Opinion

Well ahead of the official June 1 hurricane season start date, two tropical storms have already been making waves.
The first, tropical storm Alberto, brought little more than choppy seas, cloudy skies and rain to our area. The second, tropical depression Beryl, is projected to move through our area sometime Wednesday. The system will have been over land for much of its venture in our direction.

A proposal is before Brunswick County commissioners that recommends the sheriff’s office take over operations at Brunswick County Animal Services.
We encourage commissioners to approve this venture when they meet to discuss it on June 4.
After the Brunswick County Board of Health approved the recommendation, sheriff’s officials quickly moved into action. Already, non-violent inmates have been taken out of the local detention center and put to work scrubbing and cleaning every nook and cranny of the animal services building.

A medical clinic for Brunswick County’s vast number of veterans was slow in coming to the area. There were times we wondered if needed services would get here at all, or if there would be enough options for veterans who live here.
At 20 Medical Campus Drive in Supply, the Brunswick Count VA Outreach Clinic provides many basic healthcare needs for local veterans. In addition to a doctor, care staff includes nurses, assistants, a pharmacist, dietician, social worker and mental health provider.

In Brunswick County there are signs the economy is beginning to recover.
Some homes are selling. Some new construction is under way. Tourists are coming to the area.
But as times are slowly improving, there are still plenty of people right here in Brunswick County who are struggling.
Groups like Brunswick Family Assistance are strapped trying to find ways to extend its services to people of all ages.

Congratulations, Laura Hunter, Brunswick County Schools’ Teacher of the Year.
Hunter, a social studies teacher at South Brunswick High School, was honored at a luncheon last Friday in Ocean Isle Beach.
While Hunter was given the ultimate honor, the event honored 19 teachers who have been recognized for doing outstanding work with Brunswick County children. Margaret Arrowood, a social studies teacher from Shallotte Middle School, was named this year’s runner up.

This Friday Brunswick Countians of all ages, races and backgrounds will come together for a common cause—to fight back against cancer.
The annual event begins at 6 p.m. on the track at West Brunswick High School off Whiteville Road in Shallotte. Its purpose is to raise awareness about lives lost and victories won against this horrific disease. It’s also a major fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which uses money raised from events like this across the nation to fund research, support programs and education.

It’s heartbreaking news to digest anytime we get word a Brunswick County resident has died suddenly or in a tragic way.
It’s especially devastating news when it’s a young person.
This week, people throughout the county are mourning the loss of 17-year-old Ryan Dilworth, the son of a Holden Beach police officer and 911 telecommunications operator.
Ryan was a junior at West Brunswick High School and was a member of the JROTC. He worked at Main Street Restaurant and Boomer’s Rentals of Holden Beach.

On the surface, it may seem like a whole lot of digging going on in local town governments.
Beach communities throughout Brunswick County are up to their necks in sand, and they’re talking about its impact.

Concerned business owners along N.C. 130 did the right thing.
Worried their businesses were going to suffer because of a change in traffic flow near their locations, merchants rallied together and went before the Shallotte Board of Aldermen.
The road project at the heart of this controversy had been many years in the planning and work stages. When it was finished, it redirected the main flow of traffic away from the Main Street and N.C. 130 intersection near Walmart behind Shallotte Commons Shopping Center and back onto Main Street and Smith Avenue.

It’s been a long, drawn out and ultimately expensive process.
For months, the Brunswick County Planning Board has heard testimony and reviewed information supporting and opposing the county’s proposal to expand its current construction and demolition landfill.
After expending more than $200,000 in attempt to get a permit, which would allow future build-out of some 259.25 acres near the current landfill off U.S. 17 near Galloway Road, planning board members said no.

At the next Brunswick County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 3, officials will make a final determination about what time classes will start for the 2012-2013 school year.
This year, the district adopted a staggered-start schedule, beginning and ending classes at various times depending on whether students are in elementary, middle or high school.
Superintendent Edward Pruden says the change has taken a number of school buses off the road and has essentially saved the district about $500,000 of an ever-decreasing, tighter budget.

You’ve seen the advertisements.
You’ve heard the debates.
And now it’s getting closer to time for you to make a decision.
This year’s May primaries are just around the corner, and before you show up for voting on May 8, there are a few important dates to keep in mind.

Skies turned dark and winds picked up suddenly Monday afternoon in Shallotte. The familiar clicking of tiny hail stones bouncing off the ground soon joined sounds of heavy rain. The storm popped up quickly and after a drenching rain it was gone, leaving clear skies.
Sudden, drastic changes in the weather like this help note the importance of Severe Weather Awareness Month, which spans throughout March.

It’s Sunshine Week and for the fifth year in a row, The Brunswick Beacon is taking a close look at government transparency in Brunswick County.
This week, we join other news outlets across the nation in shining the light on open government.
What we’ve found in the five years of looking at, challenging, chastising and praising agencies in our community is although some groups know North Carolina’s public records and open meetings laws well, there are still far too many agencies who flub the law altogether.

Brunswick County School Board members did the right thing Tuesday night when they voted to approve the calendar for the 2012-2013 school year.
There were three draft calendars before the board for consideration. Two of those got a nod Tuesday night.
Both of the approved drafts are viable under current state legislation. One has 185 days of student instruction included. The other, which needs a waiver from the state’s department of public instruction, has 180 student instruction days.
Both would have students going back to school on Aug. 27.

A megaport in Brunswick County. You’ve heard about it, but how much do you know?
Is it good for Brunswick County?
Is it bad?
Are you unsure?
For years the North Carolina Department of Transportation has been talking about building a new, large-scale port here. While the site in Southport—near Progress Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant and Sunny Point Military Terminal—is getting the most attention, there is also another proposed site under consideration in the Leland area.

Finally.
And as far as we’re concerned, it wasn’t soon enough.
Monday night the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners had a hearing to determine if there was just cause to remove fellow commissioner Charles Warren from the DSS board where he has been causing havoc as its chairman.
Warren refused to leave the DSS board even after commissioners passed a code of ethics calling for commissioners to step down from such posts.
He didn’t think that was “just cause” to remove him.

Brunswick County candidate filing is under way. Monday morning there was a line of candidates at the board of elections office in Bolivia eagerly waiting to sign up for office.
Many of those who will file between then and closing at noon, Wednesday, Feb. 29, will be incumbents.
Many of these people have proven, consistently, they are tireless, dedicated public servants who are willing to put the community’s needs and well-being at the forefront of their decision-making processes.

We’ve said before how much we love our very own Brunswick Community College—and now people around the globe are finding out why.
The college’s Center for Aquaculture & Biotechnology is drawing attention from students right here at home and across the world. This semester a continuing education course about fish farming has students enrolled from North Carolina as well as Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Nigeria.
How’s that for making a splash on an international scale?

If the North Carolina Department of Social Services wants to write a handbook on what not to do as a county board, all it has to do is record the goings-on of Brunswick County DSS.
If there weren’t lives and significant taxpayer dollars associated with this debacle, it would be humorous.
But there’s nothing funny about providing quality-of-life services, especially for children and the elderly.